How to Write Facebook Ad Copy That Converts: Your 5-Step Guide

In the last decade, Facebook has gone from a virtual social playground to a modern-day billboard for billions of daily users. Approximately 2.41 billion people log onto the site everyday to update their status, sell on Facebook marketplace, and see what their high school nemesis is up to. It’s very apparent to anyone with a computer that there is a huge marketing opportunity on Facebook–the ads on this platform are extremely targeted and expertly crafted to appeal to the right people at the right time. While imagery and targeting certainly factor into Facebook ad conversion rates, writing compelling ad copy that speaks to your target audience is crucial. Below, read up on how to write Facebook ad copy that converts.

Step 1: Identify your audience.

You can’t write great ad copy without first identifying and getting to know your target audience. If you’ve run Facebook ads before, you can start by using Facebook’s built-in audience insights tool to break your demographic down by location, language, age, and gender. Consider lifestyle, relationship status, education level, interests, and page likes to build a complete and colorful picture of who these people are. Persona creation can also help you get inside the minds of your target audience at a deeper level. You can also use Google Analytics to gather even more data about your brand’s audience.  From there, you can craft copy that speaks to their needs, wants, and sense of humor while addressing the problems they want to solve.

Step 2: Look at your competitors. 

When done right, you can get a lot of creative and copy inspiration from direct competitors as well as out-of-market but like-minded brands your audience already loves. For example, there’s a good chance that Glossier shoppers also follow brands like Everlane and Reformation. But, Glossier’s direct competitors are makeup and skincare brands like Herbivore Botanicals  and Milk Makeup. Both subsets are worth looking into when doing market research and competitive analysis.

While direct competitors are easier to identify, ask yourself questions like, “What other brands do my customers interact with? Where do they shop? What’s their favorite retail Instagram account?” to pinpoint the latter. You can then look up these Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter accounts to get inspiration for brand voice, tone, and imagery. Take things a step further and toggle to the “ads” tab on a company Facebook page to see what paid ads they’re running, or use a tool like Moat to see their overall advertising approach. Having a clear understanding of what your audience already loves will better equip you to speak to them in their preferred language, or better yet, show them something they’ve never seen before.

Step 3: Write with value props in mind.  

When it comes time to actually write copy, always think about what the user gains from using your product or service. Do they save time and money? Are they able to simplify an otherwise lengthy and complicated process with your $20 product? In other words, how will your product or service change your customers’ lives for the better? Allow those key value props to inform your copy direction. If you have a low price point, 30-day trial, or 15% off code, include that in your copy!

While your natural instinct may be to explain your product or service in detail, save that for a landing page or website. Ad copy should be centered around the most compelling, serviceable, or interesting aspect of your brand; don’t bog down your messaging with unnecessary or overly complicated information.

Step 4: Use a call to action.

Now that you know your audience and can craft copy that speaks to their emotions, sense of humor, and needs, it’s time to incorporate a strong call to action. The user should know exactly what they’re supposed to do upon seeing an ad, whether that’s buying the top they just added to their online cart, signing up for a newsletter for 15% off, or filling out the form for more information. Incorporating this straight forward, highly specific language into your Facebook ads will do wonders for your conversion rates. Make sure that your CTAs are clear, compelling, and as simple as possible.

Step 5: Utilize A/B testing 

One of the best ways to identify successful copy variations is to split test ad headlines, copy, or descriptions. It’s vital that you only test one variable at a time—for example, keep your ad headline and description the same but test two different copy variations. From there, you’ll be able to see which copy performs best and allocate more spend to that ad. You can then use these insights to inform your ad copy moving forward. Eventually, you’ll have a crystal clear understanding of what your audience responds to and encourages conversion.

Interested in running Facebook ads for your business? MSC can help you with that. Fill out this form to get started.